San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #74: Graf All Smiles After Askarov High Sticks Him, Chernyshov Game-Time Decision
Collin Graf was all smiles after another friendly fire incident.
On Wednesday, after the San Jose Sharks’ last-minute 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks, Yaroslav Askarov high sticked Graf in the post-game celebration.
Graf apparently took high stick from Askarov in post-game celebration, I didn’t notice at first so I didn’t ask about it, also didn’t see him post-game, but watch close here, Askarov checking on him, Celebrini gives him an atta boy, Graf skates off on his own, so SHOULD be OK pic.twitter.com/UxTXhkiQGB
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 2, 2026
Today, Graf reported a bloody nose, and that’s it.
This is the second time that a teammate has hurt Graf this season, and in a non-game situation. In practice on Dec. 22, the San Jose Sharks winger took a deflected puck to the face, causing a significant scar just under the nose.
Graf lost a lot of blood, but didn’t miss a game.
This “injury” was far less serious: Head coach Ryan Warsofsky suggested that Askarov should get Graf dinner, Askarov joked that it was a personal attack, and Graf laughed about it all.
Askarov says, “It was a personal thing”, high sticking Graf 😆
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 2, 2026
San Jose Sharks (35-31-7)
Alex Nedeljkovic will start.
Igor Chernyshov will once again be a game-time decision, but he did skate in an optional practice this morning and looked good doing it.
Chernyshov just got off the ice for practice, says he’s feeling good. Doesn’t know if he’ll play tonight, but definitely looks better than yesterday.
He’s aware of the @NHL_On_TNT graphic that mistaken him for Macklin Celebrini 😆
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 2, 2026
Sure looks like Chernyshov will be in tonight, but of course, have to see how he feels at 7 PM: Kurashev, Regenda, Dellandrea & Klingberg, your likely scratches, continue to skate, about 20 minutes after rest of #SJSharks went into locker room
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 2, 2026
If Chernyshov is not available, Philipp Kurashev will slide in for him.
Probably moot point, but Warsofsky declined to answer why Kurashev was ahead of Regenda in "pecking order" tonight.
Says Dellandrea playing yesterday was part of plan to re-integrate him into action, but he wasn't going to play back-to-back https://t.co/xBQ9rnQO8D
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 2, 2026
There will be no other line changes. This is my best guess for tonight’s lines:
Chernyshov-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Sherwood
Graf-Misa-Toffoli
Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Gaudette
Orlov-Desharnais
Mukhamadullin-Ferraro
Dickinson-Leddy
Nedeljkovic
Toronto Maple Leafs (32-30-13)
Anthony Stolarz will start.
Craig Berube says Phil Myers will come in for Troy Stecher. Former Shark Steven Lorentz will come in for Michael Pezzetta. @Ozoon_CA
— David Alter (@davidalter) April 2, 2026
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs is at 7 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.
Need to be on it tonight from the start. Toronto is playing on desperation mode.
Which is ridiculous when you consider they have zero chance of making the playoffs and a high danger of giving a top 10 pick to their friends in Boston
Really
This could be a let down game. Boys need to keep their feet on the gas. Hope Orlov comes back into form. He has been a minus player as of late – lots of unforced errors (passes across the middle vs north/south like coach wants).
Playing meaningful hockey in April. It has been so long that this feels soooooo great. GO SHARKS!
Pretty heavy schedule tonight, lots of games with playoff implications.
I guessing that Chernyshov would like there is a Macklin mistake (like last night on TNT) when he signs his next
Ok, not to be that guy who complains during a winning streak, but I guess I don’t see why Regenda isn’t a regular fixture in the lineup. It seems like the Olympics was a rejuvenating experience for him, and he looked great! He’s also had some great games for the Sharks, but doesn’t seem to have earned regular ice time from the coaching staff. Genuinely, is he slow, is he redundant, is he a turnover machine, is he uncoachable? I wonder why Warso doesn’t favor him. I see a versatile, hard working power forward who compliments our team very well.
We’ll find out how good he really is when he’s playing for another team next season.
I agree but I just don’t know who you’d pull out. Gaudette had that game winner, Goody is the only guy other than Chucky that would throw mitts.
shit Kurashev should probably play too. He’s the Sherwood whisperer. But the line ups are nice as is and that’s the only issue. The real issue is that we can’t send him to Cuda without risking losing him.
I assume he is a healthy scratch the rest of the season and is one of the options for injury. Maybe he plays a game sometime in this last run.
What would really concern me is when they decide to bring Klingberg back in. Ugh.
I don’t see a scenario where Klingberg plays with SJ after this season. I do however, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, see a bizarro world scenario where Leddy is brought back for one more year to play 6th/7th D. I hope that doesn’t happen because if it does, then that would mean this off-season task of upgrading the D top to bottom doesn’t go well.
Probably only Plan B or C. We know from experience that this isn’t the worst things can get.
Ideally one or two signings and one big trade change the whole defense though. Right now, Raddysh and Peake are the two UFA who have my attention, and I don’t know enough about either yet
Yep. Likely the reason Leddy ended up in SJ is it was Grier’s plan B, hedging his attempts to get a quality D via trade or FA. I believe he picked Leddy up before he signed Orlov. But to your point, it really does only take a couple of better players than what the team currently has and the D gets an upgrade. Klinger: gone. Leddy: gone. Mario: gone. Vinny: re-sign for 6th/7th player. I haven’t gotten into the weeds on either Peake or Raddysh. Yet. I think there could be more willingness to play in SJ after seeing how… Read more »
Yeah, also because Dickinson was a bit of an unknown and they needed a backup for him too
Some defenseman is going to make a shit ton of money working PP1 with Cele.
He is slow as molasses. Goody is faster. Not sure that disqualifies him you asked about his lack of speed.
Why do I feel like I’ve been telling people “this is a big game” for the last 2 months +?
They (we) need Ned to be on his game tonight…..along with everyone else.
Cuz they are all big now?
Yep….and have been!
Ok I have a new vision: Vegas, LA, and Utah all miss the playoffs, while San Jose, Nashville, and Seattle make it in.
For the Sharks to get in I think they need to beat Nashville both times (?) which hurts their chances.